Rolls-Royce readies all-electric GT

ONE HUNDRED and twenty-two years ago, Rolls-Royce co-founder Charles Rolls noted that “electric cars are perfectly noiseless and clean… and should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged”.

We bet he never thought it would take this long to happen.

But happen it has, and Rolls-Royce is almost finished testing its first all-electric production model – the Spectre – at the British company’s winter testing facility in Arjeplog, Sweden.

The large, lavish two-door grand tourer – which is pegged as the successor to the Wraith and, ultimately, the Dawn drop-top – is expected to go on sale towards the end of next year. It will be the brand’s first battery electric vehicle as it transitions to offer an all-electric portfolio by the end of the decade.

Riding on aluminium intensive underpinnings, the Spectre will undergo some 2.5 million kilometres of testing prior to launch, including in Arctic conditions as cold as -30 degrees Celsius. Testing is claimed to be 25 per cent complete.

As with other manufacturers, Rolls-Royce engineers have used the program to test a wide range of vehicular systems, while also focusing on how the chassis, suspension and driveline responds in the absence of more distracting inputs.

The crew will also study the performance and longevity of the Spectre’s immense battery pack to ensure the grand tourer can provide suitable range, even when being operated and stored in freezing conditions.

The Spectre features the same dual-motor driveline found in the BMW iX M60, which delivers as much as 455kW of power and a whopping 1100Nm of torque.

Rolls-Royce has yet to provide specifications for its full-size coupe, but with all-paw grip, and figures likely matching those of its BMW stablemate, it is possible the model could offer a 0-100km/h time of about four seconds.

Range estimates are harder to predict, but assuming Rolls-Royce sources the largest (and heaviest) 105kWh battery pack from the BMW ‘i’ parts bin, we could see a driving range of up to 480km.

On the design front, the Spectre will feature a split headlight look that’s reminiscent of the Phantom Coupé. It’ll be the first Rolls-Royce to be fitted with 23-inch wheels since 1926.

Thanks, in part, to an aerodynamically-designed Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet ornament, the Spectre (in prototype form) has a drag coefficient of 0.26.

Under the skin, the Spectre has a total of seven kilometres worth of cabling to connect and create more than 1000 electronic and powertrain functions with no centralised processing.

Although the Rolls-Royce Spectre won’t arrive until the fourth quarter of 2023, the company has already started taking deposits in Australia.

Rolls-Royce wouldn’t be drawn into how many deposits it had taken for the model (or their monetary value) – the brand is traditionally averse to revealing such, um, vulgar details anyway.

However, regional sales manager Ian Grant said in January 2021 that there had been a “pleasing” number of interested parties.